Ace is being dubbed a true hero after waking up 13-year-old Nick Lamb, who was home alone and sleeping without his hearing aids on while a fire tore through his house. How did the pit bull do it? By licking the teen’s face repeatedly until he finally got out of bed.

“My dog licked my face and woke me up,” Lamb said. “I was like, ‘Stop it! What? You want to be fed?’ I thought he wanted to be fed or go outside.”

Ace didn’t stop licking Nick until the teen got up, too. That’s when he realized the house was full of smoke.